Lt. Russ Gates, a 23-year police veteran, stumbled upon accounts of the death of Patrolman Andrew Wolfrom after injuries sustained during the 1936 Remington Rand strike on Gifford Street.

Wolfrom's death after a severe beating Aug. 22 had been lost in the mists of time, Gates said. A newspaper account attributed his Feb. 1, 1937, death to riots during the strike.

"There really wasn't a formal way of memorializing people or situations like that at the time," Gates said. "As people die off, they're forgotten. There's no formal memorial."

Now, 76 years later, Wolfrom will join 10 other officers on the Police Benevolent Association's memorial for officers who died in the line of duty. The police department and union will hold a ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in the 700 block of East Genesee Street, on National Law Enforcement Day.

Thanks to Gates' efforts, Wolfrom was honored earlier this year on the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, D.C. and the Fraternal Order of Police Memorial Wall in Hicksville, N.Y.

He found out Wolfrom was a traffic cop. He'd been assigned to a police detail at the Remington Rand plant on Gifford Street, where hundreds of striking workers were targeting the company's replacement workers.

Wolfrom's family sent Gates a photo of Wolfrom directing traffic near City Hall.

Wolfrom's daughter, Virginia, was in her 90s when Gates located her in the late 2000s. She recalled the incident and confirmed her father died in the line of duty.

Virginia has since passed away, but her cousin will attend Wednesday's ceremony.

Aug. 22, 1936 riot

An increasingly violent confrontation -- which included the shooting of two union protesters and the stoning of company workers' homes and cars -- escalated when 200 to 300 people attempted to storm the Remington Rand factory at 11 a.m. on Gifford Street.

Patrolmen Wolfrom and William Brody were stationed at the factory. As replacement workers left for their cars, the crowds attacked them, wielding heavy iron bolts, clubs and bricks, according to newspaper archives.

Brody was attacked first and badly beaten as he attempted to stop the confrontation, Gates said. Wolfrom rushed in to help and was beaten as well, suffering a chest injury.

The crowd also attacked other officers who rushed in to rescue Brody and Wolfrom, according to news reports from the time. A dozen protesters -- three women and nine men -- were arrested.

But Gates said it's unclear if any of the people who attacked the officers was caught.

"I've never found any indication of any criminal prosecution," he said. "Being able to identify who struck what blow isn't that obvious."

The strike

The Remington Rand strikes are remembered for their incredible violence. In Syracuse, Ilion, and other plants in Upstate New York, Connecticut and Ohio, striking workers and company employees clashed.

There were bombings, one of which injured Syracuse Officer John Hanley, whose grandson now serves in the department. There were stonings.

And 10 days before the riot, a "special sheriff's deputy" shot two protesters who were stoning the house of a company official, according to newspaper records.

Gates said these "special" police officers were actually guards hired by the company. Wolfrom was a uniformed officer and there's no indication he participated in violence against the workers, Gates said.

"Very often with a strike like that, factories would hire their own security or strikebreakers," Gates said.

But the lines were blurred. The company relied on Syracuse police to protect its factory after hiring replacements for the strikers.

Months after Wolfrom died, Remington Rand was found to have violated numerous labor laws and compelled to rehire its striking workers, ending a brutal chapter in Syracuse's labor history.

"It was a pretty violent, prolonged strike," Gates said. "There really hasn't been an awful lot written about it."

More unknown line of duty deaths?

Decades ago, police officers who died in the line of duty weren't memorialized as they are today, Gates said.

That raises the question: are there other Central New York officers out there who should be on the memorial wall?

"It's possible that there are others out there," Gates said. "We've actually started looking in to one involving the sheriff's office. It's very possible that there are other officers who we don't know anything about."

What more would you like to know about this story? What would you ask the family of Patrolman Wolfrom? Check back Wednesday for coverage of the Syracuse police ceremony at the memorial wall.